The Final Joining
by MixedBreedMaiya
Summary: After six years, a snowy day brings Voyager's Captain and First Officer to realize just how much they mean to each other. *ANCIENT work. Please forgive. o.o*
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own this stuff. I just write about it. xD

**Special Thanks to:**

**My readers - all of ya'. You're so cool, even when I write corny fictions like this one.**

**Paramount, even though I'm not forgiving yo for cutting off JxC.**

**And God, from whom my talent comes!**

---------------------------------------------------------

"And, ah. Just _how _many is that?"

"I lost count when you got into the twenties."

She laughed, brushing auburn hair from her eyes. "Would you like me to spare you the humiliation of finishing this game?"

"And deprive you of sweet defeat? Never."

"You have got to be kidding. You've scored a grand total of three points against me. I'm shaking with fear...Or maybe it's uncontrollable laughter--Ah!" Kathryn Janeway jumped backward as the man facing her shot the holographic hovering Velocity piece back toward her, and fired her own phaser back at it.

"Impressive," Chakotay said, amused, as he fired again.

"Well I'm not just a pretty face, you know."

"Oh, I know. You're also a blood-sucking monster behind that feminine mask--hey!" he laughed, the object nearly hitting him in the head when she returned it indignantly. "...Was it something I said?"

"No...I just don't like you." She shrugged.

This banter went on for a good twenty minutes more as the Velocity game continued. Finally, the grand master slipped up, quite literally. Her first officer had fired the piece in the opposite direction from her, just to make it challenging.

She accepted it, too. Smirking, she started running the length of the Holodeck, which they had widened for the game, and slid to a halt, sending him into laughter again. Janeway fired it back, and he did the same thing, shoot in the other direction. She sighed and started running again, but somehow, for some reason, she slipped, right next to him.

They both fell backward, and she ended up sitting in his lap. One look at eachother and they both started laughing. "...You didn't have to push me over, you know. You could have just asked to sit down..." he said, trying to stop laughing.

"I'll remember that," she replied dryly, pushing herself into a more comfortable position.

"Whatever happened to that childhood ballet grace you used to have?"

"...I resent that." Janeway sighed, looking back to see his warmly smiling face, and grinned as well. "Sorry," she said, trying to stand and ending up falling back into his lap with a yelp.

"Grace." It was all he had to say. When they were standing, she pushed him back down to the floor.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"I told you. I don't like you." She smirked. "Computer, end Program." She turned to him with a real smile when he was on his feet, the hologrid returning to its original size. "Join me for lunch?"

"Are you cooking?"

"No...I'm taking less of a risk and going with Neelix' cooking."

"In that case, I would love to." He smiled back.

She frowned at him. "...I resent that, too...But since you're just _so _lovable and not to mention the fact that I'd get very lonely without you, I'll still allow you to dine with me."

"I'm honered that the high and mighty Captain Janeway would be so kind as to take the time to mingle with the little people like me." He bowed, low and teasingly.

"You better watch that mouth of yours, Maquis," Janeway mused. "It'll earn you a one way ticket to the brig. And believe me, I've been there. It isn't fun."

"Yes, _ma'am._" He grinned and offered his arm, which she took.

Return to Top


	2. Chapter 2

As they sat in the Mess Hall, talking over a plate of...whatever it was that Neelix had concocted this time, Chakotay watched her subconciously. He winced inwardly as she paused in all movement and caught him in the act.

"...What?" she asked slowly, brow raising.

"What?" he replied, trying to cover up his embarassing action.

"You were staring at me...I'd like to know why if it's alright with you..."

"Ah, nothing. I was just thinking."

"While staring at me. Y'ah..." She smiled slightly and after a moment, asked, "About what?"

"Various things. How badly I was whooped today in Velocity, how I'm ever going to live it down, how many jokes I can make about your little 'trip.'" He shrugged, smiling at her.

"Ha, ha, ha...You know, Chakotay, if you tell anyone about that you'll have to tell them that I landed in your lap, therefore embarassing not only your _beloved _Captain, but yourself as well." Janeway crossed her arms, smirking.

He scratched his head, pretending to consider the possibilities. "I suppose so..."

A sudden grin spread across her face. "Can you imagine," she said in a deliberately quiet voice, leaning forward just a bit, "how much of a field day Tom Paris would have with that little story?"

"I prefer not to think about that," he laughed. "A rumor that big would spread like there was no tomorrow in a ship this small..."

"Especially with he and Neelix, the two biggest mouths in the Delta Quadrant." She leaned back and sighed quietly, shaking her head. Suddenly, he would have given anything to know what she was thinking. He didn't know why...but he wanted to know.

But should he pursue it? Perhaps not. After all, it was random, and he'd already done something strange...Better to leave it alone.

"Ah, Captain, Commander."

Chakotay looked up in synchronized motion with his Captain as Neelix came toward them with a jubilant expression. "Good morning, Neelix," she said with a slight, contented smile.

"What are you so happy about?" Chakotay mused.

"I just came to inform you," said the Talaxian with obvious self indulgance, "about the festivities this evening."

"Festivities?" Janeway repeated, raising an eyebrow. "What's the occasion?"

"It's been exactly eight months since we had a party!"

She smiled. "Works for me. When is it?"

"Twenty-one hundred hours tonight..." Neelix started off, to tell someone else no doubt, when he turned back. "By the way...It's a dance." He smiled in a strange, almost suggestive way...What was THAT about? "So bring a date." He left. Chakotay stared after him, thoroughly disturbed by the Morale Officer's look.

"A date?" she laughed, shaking her head. Apparently, Voyager's captain hadn't noticed. Or, if she did, she shrugged it off. "Leave it to Neelix...He is the _only _one who could ever do something like this...and get away with it."

"Crew morale will shoot up," Chakotay mused.

"Oh, I have no doubt...Let's see. Tom will take B'Elanna, of course. Harry will try to coax Seven along, most likely...Tuvok will refuse to go, and the Doctor will slip in on the pretense of taking medical precautions." The last bit was said in a tone trying to mimick the hologram.

"And the Captain will consider her First Officer's apparant invitation to accompany him?" He asked lightly. "I've heard he's charming."

She raised an eyebrow skeptically. "He sounds decent enough.."

The Commander smiled, standing with her. "Twentyone hundred hours, then."

"It's a date." She smiled too, and left the Mess Hall casually.


	3. Chapter 3

Chakotay sat by a counter in the Holodeck setting of a rather large Russian Palace style ball room, watching the door. Any minute. Any minute, she would be here.

"No girl tonight?" asked Tom Paris, slipping into a seat beside him and raising one eyebrow. "We'll have to see what we can do about that."

"Thanks for the offer, but she's on her way." Chakotay smiled slightly, gaze unwavering.

"By the way you're staring at the door, she must really be something. Who is she?"

He crossed his arms, pretending to consider whether he should tell the helmsman or not. "She's something, all right," he said. _Vicious as an insulted Klingon, frightening as imminent death...But what can I say? She's charming...for some reason. _"You'll see."

"Mm, can't wait to meet her."

"You've met her." _Oh, boy, have you met her, _he mused.

"Oh, really?" Tom's brow rose toward his sandy colored hair-line.

As if on cue, the doors slid open to a sight the Commander wasn't sure he'd ever see. In stepped his date, and as her blue-grey eyes met his, he was sure it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever had the privelage to witness.

The most rare thing was her apparel; Voyager's captain was actually wearing a dress. Thin straps like silk rested on her otherwise bare shoulders, supporting a modest, midnight blue, floorlength evening gown, for lack of better word. Its long hanging skirt concealed her shoes, except when she walked, and then only the tips of the high heeled clear sandals she wore were visible.

Tom's eyes had widened a bit, brow raising even further in surprise. Chakotay, while feeling exactly as Paris did, masked it a little better than the Lieutenant managed to. He watched as Neelix, with exhileration, greeted her at the door, watched as she became uncomfortable under something the Talaxian was saying, unsure of whether it was apparant to anyone save him, and decided to come to her rescue.

Standing, he made his way over to her and held out a hand. "Madamoiselle," he said with a slight bow. Janeway laid her own atop it, mouthing "Thank you."

As they walked back across the floor amongst crowds and couples, he looked at her and lowered his head toward her ear just slightly to quiet his tone. "When I asked you to come with me, I didn't expect you to get so dressed up."

"Well, I decided to be thorough," she said just as quietly, a grin forming.

"You certainly did a nice job of that."

She raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything else as the lights slowly dimmed and music started to play. They sat, side by side, her arm resting on his shoulder in a friendly manner as they watched the pairs dance. After a song or two had played, he looked over at her, stood, and held out his arm. "May I?" he asked, in a teasingly dramatic tone.

The captain grinned as she got to her feet and took his arm.

"I'm not good at this," he admitted, facing her.

"It's a slow dance, you don't have to be good at it, because there's really nothing to be good at. Basically all you do is sway. And...if we can take on the Borg, we can do that," she mused.

"Words of encouragement?"

"The best I could come up with."

"We need to work on that."

She laughed, shaking her head. Chakotay looked around and frowned slightly, lowering his voice so only she could hear. "Have you noticed something strange?" he asked her.

Janeway cocked her head, looking around as he did. "People are...staring at us," she said in puzzlement.

"I think they know I can't dance. They're waiting for me to mess up," he mused.

"Well let's show them what you've got then," she said on a tiny laugh, and the music began.

It was played by a flute, soothing and quiet, and as it progressed, he found most everyone's stances had changed. But what he noticed the most, what he caught himself paying sole attention to, was their own.

The traditional position they had started out with had been abandoned. Now his arms were around her, holding her, his cheek resting gently on the side of her auburn head. Her forehead was softly touching his shoulder, her eyes closed and her breath warm and soft against him.

Up til then he had been lost in his own little world. But when it registered in his mind that they were this close, that he was holding her in his arms, his heart leapt and skipped a beat.

Kathryn seemed to have noticed it all at once too. She stopped moving, her eyes opened and she stepped backward slowly. An oddly nervous smile placed itself on her features, and the song ended just as easily as it had begun. "..It's late," she said quietly. "...I have alot to do tomorrow. I think I'll turn in..."

He nodded, dropping his arms to his side in embarassment, and watched her go. It was past, the moment was gone. It was over.

Chakotay decided to do his best to ignore it. It had been one random thought, nothing more.

The moment was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

As she sat in her Quarters that night, looking into the mirror as she brushed her hair absent-mindedly, she thought. Wondered. Pondered.

What had happened?

Nothing, she told herself firmly. It was a stray thought, feuled by the whole setting. And she tried to push the fluttering feeling in her stomach away, washing her face in a feeble attempt to rid herself of the almost unnoticeable, pink tint. Nothing had happened, and nothing would happen. Taking a deep breath, she picked up a book while walking toward her bed and got under the soft covers, turning on the reading lamp and extiguishing all other light with a single command.

Pretty soon she was lost in the world of Dante's "Inferno," as usually happened when she started to read. For a while, she stayed like this, until her eyes started to sting with grogginess and staying focused became a more and more cumbersome task. Yawning audibly behind a hand, she marked her place by folding down one of the corners--a habit, she told herself, she needed to break soon--and put it away.

Sleep didn't come very easily to Kathryn Janeway that night, no matter how tired she might be. She just kept hearing that last song over and over in her mind, seeing images of the party. It was too fresh, too alive in her mind. Finally, Janeway turned over, putting the pillow over her head with so much force that a muffled "oww" came from under it as she hit her head. With a growl, she stood, still in her silky lavender night shirt and -pants, and went to her replicator.

"Coffee. Black," she ordered it, rubbing her face. Given, caffeine wasn't the _best _solution to insomnia. But it calmed her, it was her port in the storm, so to speak. Putting the sweet smelling drink under her nose, she closed her eyes, indulging in the moment. The same moment that came every time she smelled her beloved beverage. The moment that never grew old.

Sighing, she sat in one of her two armchairs, cup in hand, folding her legs up so she sat indian style in it. Looking up from her coffee, she found herself face to face with two pictures. One was of her old dog, Molly, a sweet, well behaved Irish Setter that had been pregnant when she left. Six years ago. She felt a surge of longing for the dog's companionship, and sighed, taking another sip of coffee, and looking almost involuntarily at the picture next to it.

The cup lowered from her lips as she looked at it, her head cocking to the side without her concious consent.

Surrounded by a silvery frame, two people were in it, laughing, looking like they were having the time of their lives. It had been Halloween, and everyone in the background was dressed in some odd costume or another. But the two main people caught her eye as she sat there, hands wrapped around the cup for warmth.

He was bent over double, apparently laughing hard enough to keep himself from breathing, wearing the attire of a Vampire. Half lying, half sitting on the floor on her side was Janeway herself, dressed all in black. She wore a black mask almost like a twentieth century thief's that covered only the top half of her face, stopping halfway down the bridge of her nose, and an unmistakable tail was draped over her legs. Pointed cat ears protruded from her auburn hair, which was also falling into her eyes as she laughed. She was half propped up on her arm, obviously having fallen to the floor in a rather...amusing way.

The captain frowned slightly, a mere crease of the brow. They were so...comfortable around eachother. With eachother. They were such close friends. And that was what she had felt this night while dancing. A sudden spike of the gratefulness she had always had for him. Yes, that was it, she decided, smiling slightly, feeling like a counselor.

And she went to bed without another thought about it, having finished her drink, and drifted off to sleep despite the caffeine high beverage she had just enjoyed.


	5. Chapter 5

"Coming up on a planet, Captain. Class C."

"Frostbite, anyone?" she mused.

Chakotay smiled a little. "Does sound like something Neelix would concoct, doesn't it?" he agreed. But he didn't look at her. The previous night's events were still alive and well in him, as were the remains of thoughts. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable. Again.

While it may not have been apparent to anyone else in the galaxy, Chakotay saw it. Recognized it. In the six years he had served as her first officer and closest friend, he had gotten to know her inside out, upside down, backwards, and sideways. He could detect the smallest hint of anger, of sadness, or cockiness she might show.

"I think I'll pass on eating it, thanks," she said, grinning. The commander was suddenly glad the Neelix wasn't on the Bridge at present. Insult the cook and you might be eating Emergency rations for the next six years. He shuddered at the very thought.

"The atmosphere appears to have a bountiful supply of Cerillium gas," Tuvok informed her.

"Cerillium?" she repeated, brow raising. "Nobody fire a phaser down there..."

"We should harvest it, it would put the Engine efficiency up by near thirty percent."

"Agreed...Tom, Chakotay. Let's go." She stood.

Chakotay nodded and stood without hesitation, watching Tom and his Captain enter the Turbo lift, and followed. "Deck twelve."

In the Delta Flyer, Tom sat at the Helm, Janeway at the equivalent of Ops, and Chakotay placed himself in the tactical position. A longshot on this mission, but they had to be prepared.

"Up, up, and away we go," Tom said as he piloted his own shuttle out of the docking bay and toward the icy almost completely white planet.

"It's beautiful," She murmerred, talking more to herself evidently. They entered the orbit and immediately fluff white clouds surrounded them, having a tint of blue in them as well. The cerillium. "Tom?"

"It's alright, Captain. While we may not be able to _see _anything anymore, sensors are still operational. We can get out of here any time we want to," the helmsman informed her.

Chakotay tapped a few things in on the panel in front of him, and the shuttle began collecting the useful gas. A peaceful away mission. This was how he liked things. Most of the time. Though he had to admit, without the danger they would probably get very, very bored.

He watched Janeway lean back in her chair, staring out of the window almost dreamily, looking as if she might fall asleep. "Tired, Captain?" he prodded.

"Hmm?" She turned to look at him, then smiled slightly. "No, I was just thinking. You know I grew up in Indiana. Well, obviously we got a good amount of snow during the winter months. But then I moved to California, you know, for the academy in San Fransisco. No snow there. I kinda missed it, atually." She sighed.

"Well there's plenty of it below us if you'd like a snowball souvenier, Captain," Tom said, not looking up.

"That's quite alright," she said, shaking her head with a smile. "If I want to freeze to death I'll do it in the comfort of the holodeck." She frowned suddenly. "That didn't actually make any sense."

"No. But that's okay," Chakotay teased her. "We love you anyway."

"But don't tell B'Elanna or she'll skin me alive."

The Captain and Commander both laughed at this. "I don't doubt it," she said.

Several minutes of collecting Cerillium passd, and that's when things really started to go wrong.

The shuttle jolted. "What was that?" Janeway asked, dreamy look evaporating as she looked down at her own sensors.

"I'm not sure, Captain...But whatever it is, it's damaged the engines. We're losing altittude!" To compliment him there was a dropping sensation in Chakotay's stomach, and the Flyer started to shake. The clouds around them were visibly pushed out of the way, and they were falling. Much, much too fast.

"We've got to reduce speed!" she shouted over the noise.

"The decent stabalizers are shot, Captain. I can't do a thing!"

Chakotay frowned. This was bad.


	6. Chapter 6

On Voyager, Harry Kim looked down at his console, which was beeping furiously at him. "Voyager to the Delta Flyer," he said, getting static in response. "Delta Flyer, please respond..." More static. "Tom, Chakotay, Captain. Somebody answer!"

Tuvok looked up at him. "What happened?"

"I don't know...I lost contact with them," he replied.

"Where are they now?"

"I can't tell, there's too much interference." Harry frowned. "There shouldn't have been any problems. It was a simple supply-gathering mission, I don't understand."

Tuvok's Vulcan brows drew together and he stood on the command deck, hands clasped behind his back. "We cannot risk sending another shuttle," he concluded. "We must simply coordinate our efforts from here. They are there somewhere, Mr. Kim. I have no doubt you'll find them."

"Ah...Yes, sir..." Harry shook his head, hoping Tuvok's words of encouragement wouldn't prove faulty.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ah...ow..." Janeway pushed herself upward into a sitting position, and realized how cold she was for the first time since the crash. It had all been a blurr, but she did know she hadn't been rendered unconcious at all, just dazed. Shivering, she stood, her clothing now wet and not the least bit helpful because of the snow she had been tossed into.

She wrapped her arms around herself, closing her eyes tightly and lowering her face to protect it from the icy wind as she walked. All at once she tripped over something unseen, and landed in something familiar. Looking around, she saw Chakotay looking at her, startled. "Hi there..."

She stood, and helped him up as well, still shivering madly, her teeth chettered beyond parted lips. "Where's T-Tom?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, he's not around here. He must have been thrown further from the crash than we were."

The captain nodded, rubbing her arms and wishing she weren't _wet _in a snowy environment. "We've got t-to find shelt-ter," she said, bracing herself against more of the wind and accidentally letting a gasp escape.

Chakotay smiled slightly and took up her hands, putting them together and blowing on them.

She laughed weakly. "I'm alright," she said.

"Well, you wanted snow."

"Not this m-much."

He grinned, and started walking, and she followed with her head down and arms one more tightly wrapped around her self in a feeble attempt at warmth. Her breath steamed out as she took shivering breaths and let them out again. She hoped against all hope that they _could _find shelter...And Tom.


	8. Chapter 8

They had been walking for so long now, Chakotay wasn't sure of just how long it had been, or how long it would take to get somewhere safe. Already the cold was taking it's toll largely; Kathryn was lagging more now than she had been. Her head was always lowered and she took uncertain steps, but that wasn't surprising in the wind and the unreliable snow drifts.

He dropped back to her side, looking at her. "Are you alright?" he asked, concern in his eyes.

"I'm f-fine. But, you kn-know, it w-wouldn't matter even if I w-weren't. We d-don't have any ch-choice but to go on." She shivered again.

"Just hang on, Kathryn. We must be getting close." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as if to warm her, but he wasn't sure he had enough body heat left to do anything.

She gave him a weak smile, lifting her head only long enough to show the slightly paled face and deeply colored cheeks.

They walked on, Chakotay still by her side, still supporting her. More time passed, more wind and sleet and snow lashed at them. Breathing heavily in clouds of misty steam, he put the arm not in a protective gesture around Kathryn's shoulders in front of his face in a feeble attempt to shield his face somewhat.

Then he felt the solid body slip from his grasp, heard a _thud_ of something on snow. Turning sharply, he went to his own knees beside his kneeling Captain. There she stayed, arms wrapped around her abdomen, eyes glazing as he watched. "Kathryn," he said, reaching out. Even when he touched her she didn't move. "Kathryn."

Her eyes closed slowly and opened again just as sluggishly. She shook her head. "I..can't..." she said groggily.

"Yes, you can. Come on, we have to keep moving."

"No...I can't..."

"Kathryn, get up. We're going on."

She coughed, and looked up at him with a tired look in her numb face. "Chakotay," she breathed. "I want...you to...go."

"What?" Realization dawned, and he frowned deeply, shaking his head. "No. I won't."

"You...have to..."

"I won't leave you. I won't," he insisted.

She coughed again. "You're only...making it harder...for yourself..."

"I'm _not _leaving you to die!" he said sharply. She couldn't possibly be serious. She was delusional, that had to be it. She couldn't _possibly _think he would leave her, here, alone. To die.

"I am giving you...a direct order..."

"And I'm disobeying it. Kathryn, I--"

"Please...I don't want...to be responsable for...your death...as well..." she said, her voice weak and strained with obvious effort.

"What do you mean?"

"My weakness...is no reason...for you to stay...behind...And perish...with me..."

"You're not weak, Kathryn," he said, frowning again. "In fact, you're one of the strongest people I know."

She gave a tiny laugh. "Then why am I...the one...who can't...go on, huh?"

Shaking his head again, he continued, trying to ignore the freezing cold for a minute. "Just because your body isn't accustomed to this cold of an environment...doesn't make you weak."

"Chakotay...I already...told you...this is my decision...and mine alone."

"Don't I get a say in it?" He couldn't let her do this. It was suicide.

"...What...?"

"You're not just any human being, Kathryn...You're...you're..." He searched desperately for several seconds for the words to describe the extraordinary woman before him.

All at once the memories of the images and feelings of the dance rushed back to him. It hadn't been a passing thought. It hadn't been random at all. It hadn't been _nothing._

Something occured to him, and as soon as it came, he knew with absolute certainty that he was entirely ready to say it. To say exactly what he felt, what he thought, what he...knew. "You're the woman I love."

Her head had turned to him, some of the dreamy look lost from her face now and replaced with wonder, as if she were trying to determine whether he had actually said what she thought he had. But if she were going to say anything, it was cut short as she fainted into inky blackness and fell limply to lay in the snow.

But he knew she had heard him, had understood him. And now he just had to get her somewhere warm. Everything would be fine. He had finally been able to tell her that what he felt for her was not just loyalty. It was not just friendship.

He loved her.


	9. Chapter 9

"Mmm...mm..."

She opened her eyes slowly, as even the very dim flickering light pained them. She was lying on something soft, looking at a stone ceiling in an invitingly warm and comfortable room. Somewhere near her was a blazing fire, and she smiled subconciously in the contradictory warmth.

Her last memories were of the cold...So cold. Snow, sleet. Biting winds, walking with Chakotay and--

Her eyes opened further, her lips parted as she remembered her last few moments of conciousness. Had he said what she thought she had heard? And if he had, had he _meant _it? Her own memories from the night of the dance filtered through her mind again. Had she dismissed it too soon, too quickly?

"Oww..." Thinking too hard made her head hurt, and she chose to take a moment to enjoy the warmth without thought.

"Captain?"

She opened her eyes, which had drifted closed again without her consent, and found herself looking into the blurrily concerned, utterly welcome, yet still somehow school-boyish face of Tom Paris.

"Tom?" she asked, her voice audibly hoarse. She tried to sit up, but his gentle hands pushed her back down onto what she now suspected were several blankets with a soft cushion under her head. Suddenly, the cold flooded back through her and she shivered.

Janeway watched as Tom took a dripping cloth from a basin, squeezed it out a bit, and laid it across her forehead softly. The warm water it was filled with eased some of the lingering frosty chill, and she gave him a weak smile of thanks.

"How do you feel?" he asked her.

"Tired...A little cold...But I'm alright. Where are we?" It was certainly a building somewhere, but that was about all she could tell.

"In a Neolin village," he replied, taking the cloth, dipping it, squeezing it, and laying it back in its place on her forehead. "I was able to initiate a site to site transport near these coordinates before the crash, but I couldn't get you and Chakotay."

"Chakotay...Where is he? Is he alright?"

He smiled slightly. "He's just fine. Right now he's speaking with some of the Neolins." Tom shifted into a more comfortable position beside her.

She nodded almost invisibly. "So how did we...that is to say, he and I...get here?"

"I convinced some of the Neolins to help me search for you two. It wasn't too long before we found you, you had actually made it quite a distance. We found Chakotay carrying you through the storm."

"Storm?" That explained the exceptional amount of sleet and snow. "Ow." She closed her eyes again, the feeling coming rather painfully back to her fingers. It felt as though thirty thousand hot needles were being jabbed into her fingertips.

"Are you hurt?"

She smiled wearily again, not opening her eyes. "No...I'm just defrosting..."

"Sleeping Beauty awakens, I see," said a familiar voice. There was a sliver of dull daylight amidst the glow of the fire for a minute as some kind of door opened, and she watched it disappear as it closed.

"I do look well rested don't I?" she mused, her voice still not at...peak efficiency.

"You _look _thoroughly frozen." Chakotay said as he crouched beside her.

She opened her eyes halfway to look at him, and her gaze met his. They watched eachother for a split second, before Chakotay looked around to Tom. "I've told them what happened, and they're willing to help us to contact Voyager. They say they have ships in the vicinity, and they'll try to get word to our people about what's going on. I'd like you to go meet with their navigators and give them Voyager's last coordinates before we lost contact."

Tom nodded and stood. "Right," he said, turning and leaving the room.

There was a moment of silence before she decided they needed to talk. Taking a deep, silent breath, she began with two simple words. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not leaving me, even when I told you to."

"That's one order I will never follow," he said, smiling down at her.

She smiled slightly and looked at the wall, watching the firelight flicker and cast shadows over it. "And...What you said..." she finally ventured, tentatively. "When you said.."

"When I said that I loved you," he finished for her.

The uncomfortable knot in her stomach tightened. "Y-yes. Then...I heard right.."

"Yes." His face remained unreadable.

She pushed herself up into a sitting position slowly, wrinkling her nose with the effort. "Then...I know it was cold..and you were trying to get me to go...But...Did you...mean it?" She winced visibly as soon as she had finished.

There was a moment of silence, a moment that almost made her wish she had been left out in the snow. Then she felt a hand around the back of her neck, and next thing she knew, her eyes were closed again, and they were kissing.

When he drew back a little, Janeway stared at him, her heart hammering painfully against her ribs. Her lips were parted, but he didn't look phased. "Does that answer your question?" he asked softly.

Her expression still dazed, she nodded slightly, a few strands of hair falling into her face. "Y...yes.."

He smiled slightly, brushing them back. "Good. Can I ask you a question now?"

She cocked her head, though she had a feeling she knew what he was going to ask.

Chakotay seemed to hesitate, weigh the words before he spoke them. "What about you?" he asked finally, watching her.

Her heart gave another leap. Yes, she had anticipated it, but that didn't make answering it any easier. "I...I..."

He looked downward. "I see," he said, starting to stand. On a sudden impulse, without even thinking, she reached out and caught his arm. "Wait..."

He turned back to her and she met his gaze steadily. After a moment of thought, she nodded. "I...yes...Yes," she decided. "I do...I love you, too..."


	10. Chapter 10

As he sat in a Neolin facility, waiting for the signal to reach Voyager, Tom drummed his fingers against the desk, staring at the Monitor, willing Tuvok's irritating Vulcan-calm face to appear. "Come on...Come on."

A fuzzy, pointy eared man popped onto the screen, making Tom jump a bit. "Lieutenant," Tuvok said, his brow creased. "I am relieved to see you."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "That's a first."

The Vulcan put on that look of annoyance that was usually associated with Tom Paris, and continued. "Is everyone alright?"

"The Captain and Chakotay took a real beating in the snow storm, but we're all okay," he said.

Tuvok nodded. "Where are they now?"

"Chakotay's with Captain Janeway in another building. She fainted before we found them, and Chakotay had to carry her. She's awake now though, and should be fine."

The Tuvok on the monitor nodded, hands clasped behind his back in a neutral stance. "Good. We have met with a Neolin ship, the _Yolanda,_ and they are willing to carry the three of you back to Voyager. Sending another shuttle is too risky, and transporters won't function through the cerillium clouds. Their ships have specially modified shields to get to and from their planet; you will board it and we will rendezvous."

"Right." Tom took a deep breath. "Then we'll be seeing you soon...I hope." He ended the transmission and stood. Exitting the room, he made his way along the streets, looking up at the impressive, mostly transparent, almost invisible dome shielding surrounding the entire Village. It kept out snow and rain and sleet, and wind, and it was alot warmer in here than out in the open, though it was still fairly chilly.

He opened the door and found Captain Janeway sitting up, cross legged on her former bed, and Chakotay sitting facing her as they talked. Conversation slowed to a halt as Tom entered and nodded in greeting.

"I just made contact with Voyager," he told them. His Captain's eyes seemed to brighten just a bit at this statement. "They've made arrangements for us to board a Neolin ship to take us back."

Janeway smiled slightly. "Well, there's some good news for you. When?"

"I haven't checked with Bastra yet."

"Bastra?" she repeated, clearly confused.

"My pal. He's been the most cooperative in this whole situation, and he knows about the comings and goings of ships on this world."

She nodded. "Good...Then let's go see him. The sooner we can get back to Voyager the better." She stood, shivering a little, and Chakotay did the same. He put a steadying hand to her arm, and all three of them ventured into the streets.

Tom smiled slightly in amusement as the Captain marvelled over the ingenius design of the dome and structure of the village as a whole. The scientist in her had obviously not been effected by lack of heat.

At last they came to a rather tall building, right at the edge of the dome, with an enormous docking port spreading out on the other side of the clear wall. "Bastra should be in here," he said, leading them all inside.

He led the way through winding slopes and stairs and rooms, and finally jogged a few steps toward a Neolin man who was checking some sort of device. The man had strange ridges on his cheeks, and the bridge of his nose, giving him the uncanny appearance of an upsidedown Klingon.

"Bastra."

Bastra turned and smiled a bit, grasping Tom's hand in his. "Tom. What brings you to this place?"

"I was hoping you could tell me when the _Yolanda _lands. It's going to take us back to Voyager."

The little man, for he was several inches shorter than any of the three humans, beamed. "This is good news, certainly. Indeed, indeed. Well, I believe...Yes, yes..." He looked at his device again. "Well, well. It looks like your transport vessel will be landing in just a few short hours! Indeed, indeed, you should be going home in some small time."

Bastra reminded Tom a great deal of Neelix, actually, and it wasn't hard to see why; the jubilant expression he always wore, the exhilerated way he talked, with emphasis on every positive word. He smiled slightly. "Thanks alot, Bastra. For all your help."

"Oh, no, no, Tom. It was my pleasure. Simply my pleasure. A safe journey to you and your travel weary comrades, Tom. Good speed, good speed." He bowed to all three of them in general, and walked away.

Tom looked around at his friends. "And there you have it. Problem solved," he said, crossing his arms. "Voyager, here we come."


	11. Chapter 11

Standing at her door, padd in his hand, Chakotay went over and over what he'd say to her. Or rather, tried to. The only problem was, he didn't know what it was that he was going to say in the first place. Sighing, scratching his head, he waited while the door beeped for her to answer.

Sure enough, from inside the room came a good natured "Come in." He obeyed, the doors opening with the rythmic hissing sound they were all accustomed to. Only this time, it seemed about ten times louder and more...hissy.

Kathryn Janeway looked up at him from one of her chairs, curled up like a cat and formerly reading a book. She smiled and half closed it when she saw him. "Hi," she greeted.

Everything he had rehearsed, thought about, planned, dropped from his mind. "Hi," he said, not exactly knowing what to do next. Remembering the padd he had in his hand as an excuse to come down here, he stepped forward and handed to her.

She took it with a sigh and laid the book aside, folding the page down in the way she always did, making the FIrst Officer smile slightly. She had also said she wanted to break that habit, but from the looks of things it wasn't working. Nodding, she stretched, and yawned daintily, _femininely, _behind a hand, almost making him laugh.

When he didn't go, she looked back up at him. "Was there something else?" she asked casually. Since the "realizations" of two months prior, they had been even more comfortable with eachother, spent even more time together as they had before. There was no going around it, they were romantically involved, no matter what Starfleet said. She was her own woman, capable of making decisions. And she had. A big one. He knew it had been huge for her to accept this, he knew it went against everything she had been taught. But she had _done it_.

"Actually, I wanted to run an idea by you," he said, weighing his words carefully.

She straightened a little, playing with the padd in her hands unconciously. "Shoot," she told him, cocking her head.

She probably thought it was some plan for Warp Core efficiency, or some new way to get home or something. Boy, was she way off the mark. "Well...let's just say, hypothetically, that I wanted to, ah...ask you a question."

She raised an eyebrow. "Okay."

"And...let's say that, _hypothetically..._That question was really, ah...A proposal." He watched her for her reaction, which was every bit as...startled as he'd expected.

Her eyes widened, the constant fidgeting stopped abruptly, letting the padd clatter to the floor. She had frozen completely, staring at him like a statue. "Wh...what?"

He kept his face in a slight, calm smile, while his insides were squirming sickeningly. "You heard me. I'm asking you to...marry me."

Her eyes were the only thing that moved, scanning his face for some sign, any indication that this might all be a simple joke. But he wasn't teasing her, he wasn't kidding. It wasn't a joke. "Chakotay," she said, seeming to finally find her voice. "You're serious?"

"Yes," he said plainly, clasping his hands behind his back in his normal report-making stance. She looked almost distraught, and he frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked, anxiety gnawing at his mind. When she stayed silent again, he pressed forward. "Kathryn, if I've done something...If you're upset with me in any way..." he started, but she interrupted him.

"No...It's not that it's just..." She trailed off, biting her lip.

"What?" he asked again, stepping forward and crouching in front of her to look up into the saddened blue grey eyes he loved.

"Don't you see that I...We can't?" she asked finally, still staring at him.

His frown deepened. "I don't understand..."

"Chakotay..." Kathryn shook her head. "I am Voyager's Captain, you are the first officer. We can't get married!"

"Why not? We're already in what one might call dating, for lack of better word." He stood up, still watching her, thoroughly confused.

"Y-yes, but..." She stood as well, and proceeded to pace aimlessly around the room. "It...It..." It was almost as though she knew there was a reason but she couldn't think of it. "What if we had a fight?" she asked finally, after several tense moments of silent pacing. "A disagreement on the Bridge, where my authority-wise superiority allowed me to make a decision which you would not agree with. What would happen to our personal relationship, should we get married?"

Chakotay had been watching her walk around her quarters, silent, letting her think. Now, he shook his head at her reasoning. "We sort it through and get on with our lives," he said, wondering why she had to make this complicated. It had all seemed so simple when he had decided to ask her.

"Alright, let's turn it around then." Kathryn faced him, her arms crossed, having pushed auburn hair behind her ear to get it out of her face. "Suppose we had a fight inside our personal relationship. How do you suppose that would effect our conduct on the Bridge? We are the two highest ranking officers on this ship, Chakotay! If our judgement were to be affected in any way, it might put Voyager in danger. We can't risk that."

"Kathryn," he said incredulously, "any of that can, and _has _happened, even though we're not married. We've had our share of disagreements, professional and personal. But are we any worse off than before? Are we not closer because they allowed us insight into eachother's personalities, points of view, interests? Has Voyager ever been put in danger because of our arguements?"

"That's different, we don't _live _with eachother every day and night...Yes, we can sort things out, when we've had some time apart to think about it. But what if something big happens? Chakotay...I just don't think it would work..." Her brow creased as she gazed at him.

"You don't think so, or you know?" he asked her.

"I _don't _know, that's the problem."

"Exactly, it's not a certainty either way. But nothing is _ever _knownuntil it's tested. All I ask is that you think about it, Kathryn. I know you're a By-the-Book Captain, but we've already broken through Starfleet's restrictions by admitting our feelings, two months ago. By acting upon it at all. I think it could work, if you just gave it a _chance_."

She looked away for a moment. "I have to..think..." she said quietly to the floor.

He nodded. "That's all I ask," the Commander assured her. "Good night, Kathryn." He turned, and left her to the troubling thoughts he knew clouded her mind at this moment. She hadn't downright refused...There was hope.


	12. Chapter 12

A day later, she found herself walking distractedly into the Sickbay, having been called by a very irritated Doctor; the Captain had, once again, failed to show up for her monthly checkup, and the Hologram didn't let her forget it. "Sorry, Doctor," she murmerred soflty, sitting on the edge of a bio bed and allowing him to proceed with his scanning, poking, and prodding.

He spoke to her about how she was putting herself at risk by disregarding his heedings, but she hardly listened. The previous day's events were still going through her mind constantly. As she remained distantly silent, she wasn't even aware of a pause in his movement, and in his merciless droning. "Captain?" he asked.

She jumped, startled, and looked up at him. "Yes?"

"I don't mean to pry, but...Is something wrong?"

"Why do you ask?"

The Hologram raised an eyebrow in an eerily human expression. Of course, everything about the Doctor was eerily human. "Well, you're utterly silent, staring at a blank wall, and not fighting me at all. I'd say that's reason to suspect that something is bothering you." He smiled slightly.

She returned it wearily. "As usual, your diagnosis is right on target." Janeway sighed, shaking her head. She rubbed her face tiredly.

"Anything I can help you with?" the Doctor asked, laying down the tricorder. "I have been learning more and more about psychiatric care, what with no counselor on board."

The smile widened just a bit. "Truth is, I don't know if anyone can help me. If we were in the Alpha Quadrant now, it wouldn't be a problem, and the answer would be a simple 'yes.' It wouldn't have nearly as much impact on Voyager...But we're not in the Alpha Quadrant, and it's not a simple 'yes.' Because it would have an enormous effect on the crew." She sighed again, rubbing her face. _I just don't understand...What am I supposed to do? _

He sat down beside her, and she turned her head to look at him. It was obvious he didn't understand what her tiny bit of ranting had been about, or if it had been supposed to make sense to him, which it hadn't. "I'm willing to act as your sounding board," he assured her.

"Thank you, Doctor, but...I don't know." There was another moment of silence in Sickbay before he spoke again.

"If not me," he shrugged, "then why don't you try making a hologram of someone you can talk to, who would help you understand and make the right choice? It would be as good as talking to the real thing, without the awkward tension. You could delete the program after you've come to a conclusion, and it would never have to become public knowledge." He looked at her, and she at him, and the eyes she looked into had never seemed so...human.

A genuine smile spread across her tired features and looked with fond grattitude upon him as she stood. "I think I'll do that.," she told him. "Thank you."

He nodded and smiled slightly too. "Any time...We may not be flesh and blood, but we still know how to listen."

She left the Sickbay, going toward the Holodeck, thinking of who she would create to help her. Her first thought for when he had said someone she could talk to, was Chakotay. But no, she couldn't talk to him about this, hologram or not. She knew what he would tell her, because he'd already told it to her. No, not Chakotay.

Next she came up with Tuvok. But somehow the idea of talking to her old Vulcan friend about her love life didn't seem overly appealing.

_Daddy. _

Cocking her head as she walked, she turned the prospect over and over in her mind. As a child she had been closer to her father than anyone else. He was dead now, some fifteen plus years ago. But even his hologram might help her now, and she was willing to try it.


	13. Chapter 13

As she pressed the final control, she looked at the Holodeck doors and took a deep breath. "Congratulations, Dad," she said. "You've just become a counselor..." Biting her lip, she walked in slowly.

Janeway found herself in a yard. Her own childhood backyard, looking the same as ever in the heart of Indiana. There before her was the tree she had loved to climb, and go sit in when she was upset. And then...

Her stomach lurched as she spotted her father, standing there beside the tree, her tree, smiling at her. "Good morning," he said while she walked toward him.

"Good morning," she replied, her own lips curving into a smile. She had programmed him with every iota of knowledge about their adventures in the Delta Quadrant. That would be easier than trying to explain to him six years worth of disasters...And fun.

But she hadn't put in anything about her particular dilemma; she wanted to tell him that herself. "You look troubled," he prodded her, his eyes squinted in the bright summer sun. "What's wrong, Kathryn?"

"...I have a problem," she said, leaning against the tree. "A war, in fact. Between my human instincts, and my Starfleet training."

"Ahh." He nodded, looking at the grass thoughtfully. "Those two seem to butt heads quite often in Captains, and Admirals." His blue eyes not unlike her own lifted once more to regard her fondly. "Tell me about it, then."

Janeway had been chewing on the inside of her cheek until this invitation. And now, her brow creased. "There is a man," she began slowly. "My first officer."

"Chakotay. Go on."

She obliged. "For six years he has been my closest friend. My port in the storm, and my sounding board. Our relationship has weathered brutal storms brought on by the Borg, and exhile..."

Edward shifted, and nodded, to show he was listening, and to move her onward.

Voyager's Captain looked up into the branches of the tree in thought. "Two months ago, three of us crashed on a planet, Class C. After walking a ways, my strength was gone. I ordered Chakotay to leave me, and find shelter. But he wouldn't. He stayed with me, he talked to me..." Her brow creased. "He told me he loved me."

"I see...And, your feelings for him are not...the same?" he asked, making her turn back sharply to him.

"That's not it," she insisted. "I...He loves me, as I do him. But there's more. Much more. Yesterday he came to my quarters to ask me something, and...Daddy, he asked me to marry him." She squeezed her eyes shut.

She felt, rather than saw him smile as he put a hand to her cheek. "And this is a problem?" he laughed. "I'd think you'd be happy."

"I...I can't be happy!" she said incredulously, stepping out of his reach and staring at him. "I _can't_! I'm not allowed to have a relationship with a member of my crew, and that includes my first officer."

"You said yourself you've admitted your feelings. Haven't you already turned your back on that aspect of 'Starfleet Protocol'?"

"I _know _that what we've done is, in itself, a violation, but--"

"A violation? Kathryn, you make it sound like you've turned Cardassian traitor to the Federation by allowing yourself to love someone. It's not an offense...It's not even something to be ashamed of. My dear, you're a human being. A human woman. You've got to be _expected _to feelthings. You're not a Vulcan." His smile reached his shining eyes and they crinkled at the weathered edges.

"No, I'm not a Vulcan. I'm a Starship Captain, and I have...guidelines to follow. Daddy, I don't know what to tell him. If I accept, I go back on my training, and if I decline, I lose him. I don't _want _to lose him. I don't _want _to have to make a choice between love and duty. I need help, I need guidance, I need advice. I need you." Janeway bit her lip again.

"Kathryn, you're a long way from the Federation."

"What does that have to do with it? The Prime Directive is clear, no matter what planet, quadrant, or galaxy you're in! You, of all people, should know that!"

He silenced her by putting his hands on her shoulders. "You didn't let me finish," he chided her softly. "You're a long way from the Federation. You're a long way from humanity,. From your friends and your family. You always think you can do things alone, you _want _to be independant. You think you don't need any help, but that's _wrong, _Kathryn. You can't live alone."

"I don't live alone...There are a hundred and fifty other people on Voyager..."

"That's not what I mean. It's human nature to seek out someone we can hold to, someone to love. And that's a ncessary part of our lives, because the hard truth is, we _need _love. And you're no different, Kathryn. You're not immortal, or immune to humanity, and you know that."

Her lips parted and she stared at him, remaining silent as her vision started to fog with tears. She did know it, though on occasion she'd been known to deny it.

"Do you love your crew?" Henry asked, staring at her. "Do you care for them deeply?"

Janeway blinked, this hadn't been a question she'd expected. "Y...yes. I do."

"Then _show _them, my daughter. Show them you can love, that you're not above everything our race stands for. You love Molly, you aren't going to deny that, or throw her into the street. Don't throw out this love, either Kathryn. Don't let it slip by..."

The tears welling up in her eyes impaired her vision to the point where everything was watery, but she managed to wrap her arms around him in a hug, almost forgetting that he was a hologram. "Maybe I just needed assurance that...That I wouldn't get us thrown out of Starfleet when we got back," she said on a little, wavering laugh.

He returned the embrace, holding her close to him. "None of that matters, Kathryn. You must think of yourself as well as your crew...You're no good to them if you don't take care of yourself. Even if you were booted out...You'd have him, you'd have your friends. I realize Starfleet is your life...But maybe it's time you embraced a few other things too."

"...Thank you," she told him quietly.

"My dear, there is nothing I wouldn't do for either one of my girls. You know that. I love you, and I always will."

"I love you, Daddy," she whispered, clinging to him.


	14. Chapter 14

He sat in his office. He sat reading a padd at his desk. But he didn't really see the words, anxiety was still gnawing at the back of his mind. Sighing, Chakotay rubbed his eyes. If he didn't hear from Kathryn soon, he thought he might as well quit his job. He wasn't getting anything done.

He looked up tiredly as the door beeped. "Come in," he called, and the doors slid open. He sat upright slowly and looked at the woman standing there. "Good evening," he said, trying to keep the questioning tone from his words.

Kathryn obliged, stepping in slowly and letting the doors hiss closed behind her, her hands once again fidgeting. "Good evening," she said, her smokey voice quiet.

"Something wrong?" he asked, unease growing.

She pursed her lips a bit and shook her head, sitting on the edge of his desk. "Actually," she said, "I wanted to run something by you."

He recognized those words. They were the same he'd used to propose. "Shoot," he said, quoting her.

"Let's just say, hypothetically, I had an answer to your question..."

He nodded a bit, going along again. "Okay."

"And let's say, _hypothetically..._that the answer was...yes..." A smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Chakotay wasn't sure if his eyes were as wide as he thought they were as he stared at her. "What?" he asked, stupidly.

The hiding smile broke out, and she grinned at him. "You heard me. I'm accepting your proposal."

"Kathryn, I..." He continued to stare at, standing from his chair and walking around the other side to face her. As she got up, too, and looked up at him, he took her head in his hands gently, wondering if the exhileration floating around his stomach was evident on his face. "Oh, Kathryn!"

Her smile widened as she laughed a little. "I'm sorry it took so long...I had to think things through completely...With a little help from my father."

"Your father?" he asked, now confused.

She shrugged and looked slyly up at him. "Holodecks are wonderful things."

This time he laughed too, lowering himself to press his lips to hers. The reality of it hit him as she returned it. She had _accepted_. He had proposed to her, and she had accepted. They were going to be married.

He drew back, still holding her head. "Kathryn..."

She smiled, and wrapped her arms around his neck, and he let go to return the embrace. "I love you, too," she said.

He closed his eyes and put a hand to the back of her auburn head, feeling as though he might never let go. But then, if he did that, it'd be a little hard to marry her, he mused. This thought made him chuckle audibly, and he felt rather than saw her grin over his shoulder.


	15. Chapter 15

Staring at her hands, at the ring he had given her as a symbol of their engagement, Kathryn Janeway recounted to herself how all of this had gotten started. It had been with a simple dance, a simple song. And then a life threatening situation, and a counseling session with a hologram. She mused over how she could sit here on her bed after it all, and think calmly on everything that had happened.

Taking a deep breath, she stood, and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair had been pulled back in a fancy bun at the nape of her neck, and a piece on either side of her face had been left out and curled. She brushed one of the pieces out of her face in one swift, graceful motion, and examined the clothing she wore.

A gown, pure white and full length. It had sleeves that hugged her arms down to the elbow, then fell loose, one side longer than the other and going down past the back of her hand, and there were a few roses embroidered in white thread on the top half. She had on white high heeled sandals that were almost comepletely hidden by the silky hem of the dress.

B'Elanna came up behind her, smiling, holding a veil up as if it were some precious item. It was attatched to a white tiara-like headband that would sit on the top of her head, the veil falling out over her hair, her shoulders, and halfway down her back. "I don't like dresses," Janeway said, playing with her sleeves subconciously.

"It looks nice," the Half-Klingon assured her.

She turned around to face her Chief Engineer. "Oh, B'Elanna..." Her face said it all. She was nervous as one could be without fainting, or getting sick. Of course, she hadn't entirely ruled out the latter quite yet.

"...I'm getting married." Her voice was distant, almost dreamy, as if she were in awe. As if it had just hit her. Which it almost had.

B'Elanna grinned, trying to stifle laughter, but failing just a bit. "I know. And he's one lucky man." Something rare, but not totally unheard of happened next. She and B'Elanna shared a friendly hug, one she suspected was meant mostly to reassure her.

She was doing the right thing, she had to be. She _loved _him. She just didn't love the prospect of getting up in front of the entire crew and saying "I do."


	16. Chapter 16

"So, you've actually done it."

Chakotay turned, looking around at Tom, who was surveying him with crossed arms and a smug expression. "Done what?" he asked, turning back to the mirror and toying with his suit.

He shook his head. "You've actually asked her."

"Yes. And?"

"Is that all you can say?" the Helmsman asked incredulously. "You're getting _married, _to the woman who had forbidden any romantic involvement from the start. You asked, she accepted. And all you can say is 'yes'?"

"...Yes." He smiled slightly, straightening his collar.

Tom sighed, walking over and checking his own tuxedo. "At least you're getting married to a somewhat even tempered gal."

Chakotay looked over at him. "Are we talking about the same woman? I think my vow should include 'to have and to hold, to love and to cower before.'" He smiled, thinking over a few of Kathryn's more..aggressive acts. She was vicious, frightening, short tempered, and utterly wonderful.

Tom grinned. "Just don't say that in front of her, you may be divorced before you've even said 'I do.'"

"I don't doubt it."

"So what did you have to bribe her with in order to get a traditional Earth wedding ceremony?" Tom asked, again looking quite interested.

"Nothing. We came up with it, together. If she had had any objections, we wouldn't be doing it like this," he replied simply.

"Ahh, a pushover are you? Let me give you some advice, as a knowing husband. You've got to take some initiative and be the man."

Chakotay laughed. "Yeah, right...Somehow I think Kathryn will be the one wearing the pants in this family."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "I think you should probably do us all a favor and wear yours too. Come on, we'd better get down there."


	17. Chapter 17

Pacing was something he didn't do often, but now he had to fight the urge very conciously as he stood at the head of the enormous Church program, standing by the Doctor who was clad in what looked remarkably like a priest's robe.

Tom was on one side of him a few paces away, and B'Elanna was in her own place on the other side, leaving room, of course, for the Bride. The Bride, who would be coming in any minute, whom he would see for the very first time that day, as was tradition.

And there she was. Though she looked a bit uncomfortable in the gown, and had to keep brushing the hair out of her face, she was beautiful. The urge to pace evaporated as he and everyone else stared at the approaching woman, which, he noticed, only made her more uncomfortable.

A smile worked its way across his features, and his delight increased when it made her grin a bit as well. He held out a hand to her when she was close enough, and together they stood in front of the Doctor, facing eachother, holding both hands.

He looked over, and the Doctor nodded at him with a smile. Letting go of one of her hands, he took from his pocket a ring, taking a deep breath. "I, Chakotay," he said, as the music softened to play in the background. "pledge my undying love to you, Kathryn, as I invite you to share my life. I promise to be kind, unselfish, respectful, and trustworthy so that together, our dreams of a beautiful future can come true."

She was listening to him intently, her eyes glistening in the soft light. _She's going to cry, _he thought, smiling even more as he went on. "To this end, I call upon all present to witness," he glanced at the people gathered, then back at her, "that I take you, Kathryn, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as we both shall live." As he finished, he took up her left hand in both of his, sliding the ring onto her finger.

Voyager's Captain bit her lip, willing the tears to hold until she herself had spoken. _Just a little longer..._ She took the ring B'Elanna had handed to her discretely, and looked up into his face. "I, Kathryn," she began, "take you, Chakotay, to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before."

She cleared her throat quietly, trying to regain control as the tears started fighting to be free. "I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry ith you," here her voice broke ironically, "loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward, for as long as we both shall live." She slid the ring onto his hand as well, her eyes never leaving his.

The Doctor, still smiling, put a hand on their own clasped ones, looking at each of them in turn. "With these rings you pledge to love one another eternally. Like this perfect circle, your love shall have no end. Just as it is constructed of incorruptable metal, so the commitments you have made today to eachother, before these people, should never fail. Do you promise to uphold the vows you have spoken from your own hearts to keep this partnership alive?"

She smiled again, glancing at the Doctor for a moment. "We do," they said at the same time.

"And do you promise to love eachother no matter what may come, to be faithful and encouraging, never to say a word that is not meant to build the other up?"

"We do," they spoke again.

The hologram's smile broadened. "Now that that's settled..." He looked at Chakotay, and opened his mouth again, but he didn't wait for the words. He let go of her hands to wrap his arms around her, and kissed her.

She would have laughed, if she hadn't been a bit...preoccupied. Her eyes closing, she took his head in her hands and returned it.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Well, I was going to say 'you may kiss the Bride,' but I see you have everything under control."

There was a ripple of laughter throughout the building, and even the new couple grinned at eachother as they drew back, and turned to face the crew.

The next words that day would make an impression on her, one that would last for the rest of her life. "I now pronounce this pair husband, and wife."


	18. Chapter 18

Kathryn Janeway was certain that she had never gotten so many congratulations in one evening. Or _year _for that matter. She and her new husband--it still felt odd to be calling someone husband--were walking to their equally new quarters, having just come from their own reception in the Mess Hall.

"I swear every member of this crew came up to me at least _twice,_" she mused. They were still in the wedding clothes, but she had rid herself of the veil long before. Rubbing her eyes with the hand that wasn't woven through one of his, she sighed contentedly.

Chakotay smiled at her, squeezing her hand affectionately. "The crew was almost as excited as I was...Almost."

She grinned. "Nice catch," she commented teasingly, leaning her head on his arm. "...I'm glad I had an intelligent father."

He raised an eyebrow. "Believe me, so am I. You were making me so nervous I thought facing a Borg armada alone and escaping alive would have been easier than waiting for your answer."

She looked up, her brow creased. "I'm sorry," she said, the smile having evaporated. "I just needed time, to think and talk it out."

"Hey," he said, stopping as they reached the door. "Does it matter, now? You said 'yes', and we're married, to be together 'for as long as we both shall live.' And I'm glad."

She smiled and looked up at him. "Did you make those vows yourself?" she asked.

He nodded. "Mmhm," he hummed. "I wrote them. Did you?" he mused.

Janeway nodded too, smiling. "Yeah...I'm glad we did a traditional ceremony. I got to excersise creativity, and practice walking gracefully in a dress and three-inch heels." The smile widened.

Chakotay looked at the door. "You know, according to my research, we haven't completed things the 'traditional' way."

"Oh?"

"There's one more thing we haven't done." He looked back at her, his brown eyes glinting.

"What's that?" she laughed.

"This." He lifted her into his arms, laughing at her startled yelp, and carried her through the door. Even as it hissed shut, they could be heard laughing.

This would be a marriage to remember. A marriage between Captain and First Officer.

The final joining of Starfleet and Maquis aboard the starship _Voyager. _


End file.
